Wednesday will be a historic day for one family-owned business in the Russellville community.

But there won’t be any parades, pomp or circumstance. It will be just another day at the Big Red Drive-In for the employees and owner Jo Ann Scott.

The restaurant will still offer its traditional favorites — burgers, fries, chicken fried steak, catfish — along with a few new additions to the menu — jalapeno poppers, fried green beans and catfish curls, among others.

But the formula for success for this family has worked from day one and continues today — keep it simple. Offer simple menu items in a simple environment and maintain a simple loving, family relationship with the employees and customers who keep coming back — even when they move out of the area or state.

And, of course, those who make up the Big Red Table. They include Tommy, David, Harl, Rocky, Phil and Gerald, just to name a few. And they may make some fireworks on the 50th anniversary.

“I have to remind them to use their inside voices,” Scott mused. “They come here to eat and drink coffee and dish it out. But they find out real quick I can dish it right back to them. Then we’ve got the ones who have been coming in for so long, that we have lost.”

She mentions a few names, adding she could always count on hugs and kisses from a favorite patron.

“A very sweet lady,” she explained. “I miss those. And we have the kids who still come in from when the (Gardner) junior high was over here, and they’re coming in with their kids, which are adult teenagers now. And they’re still coming in. That’s what 50 years means.”

Scott’s parents, Keith and the late Anna Williams, opened a Tastee Freez on East Fourth Street on Feb. 19, 1964. They became independent in 1971 and moved to the current location of the Drive-In, at the corner of 16th Street and South Arkansas Avenue. It used to be a gas station in the 1940s, Scott said she recently discovered.

“When we worked at the Tastee Freez, I was 8 or 9 years old, I once rearranged the coins by size. I never did it again,” she pointed out. “We would close up Tastee Freez, and mom and dad would go to Old South. I would be in the car asleep. I’d wake up, get a soda or something, and go back to sleep.

“It was no big deal. That’s just the way it used to be. We didn’t even lock our doors, unless we were going out of town. That’s how much times have changed.”

But things are still kept simple at the Big Red Drive-In, and for a good reason.

“If you’ve got something good going, don’t mess it up,” Scott said. “I’m not going to change anything. If it’s a good thing, don’t mess with it. I love all my customers. Every now and then, I could wring a few necks at the Big Red Table — God love em.

“One family who moved to Florida come back when they come to Russellville, because they want my chicken. Another comes in from Texas for a family reunion, they come in here. This is the way it’s gone on since I moved back here in 1990. The kids and people who come in, I’ve known since grade school, high school, and now they’re bringing their families.” Scott pointed to an article framed on the restaurant wall about the drive-in’s 40th anniversary a decade ago. It mentioned the hours and hard work the family put in to keep everything simple, but still a success.

“That is very true,” she said. “Now we’re only six days a week and close at 7 o’clock these days. It’s hard, not as easy as it used to be. Still, it’s a job and I do love it. It’s in my blood.” Family also includes the employees of the Big Red Drive-In. Pat has worked at the drive-in for at least 17 years. Cory has worked there two years. Saleena, almost a year. Mary Ann, probably five years, and Jessica, almost six years.

“Those girls think I’m their mother. I’ve known Jessica since she was 5 years old,” Scott noted. “I love every one of them. We back each other up. We may fight, but when times are tough, we are together as glue.

“We’re still family. If one of us needs something, we’re there for each other. That is what family is about. That’s just the way it is. That’s the way all businesses should be. It’s not about the business. It’s not about the money. It’s about people caring for each other.”

It’s just 50 years, Scott said, trying to keep the anniversary simple and low-key. But it’s no simple feat to not only stay in business for five decades and counting, but to treat all the people who have made Big Red Drive-In what it is today, a part of the family.

“I have some that will come in who haven’t been here in years and say, ‘You’re still here. Wow.’ Well, we’ll be here until I say ... It means a whole lot. Nobody can do everything right, but we do try to take care of our people.”